


Byakuya-chan

by orphan_account



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: F/M, Non-Despair AU, SDR2 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-30
Updated: 2013-12-30
Packaged: 2018-01-06 18:22:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1110088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the day that the new first-year students enter Hope's Peak Academy, and it's also time for a truth to be revealed among the second-years...and Ibuki's logic and her love are put to the test.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Byakuya-chan

It was homeroom, the period before school ended for the day. The class was chatting as usual, and a lazy paper airplane drifted across the room. Suddenly, someone arrived.  
The door shut, and the principal entered. Ibuki stared, wide-eyed. Why was Mr. Kirigiri here? He hardly ever gave speeches or assemblies, especially today, when the new students were coming for orientation. He stood, black-suited, at the front of their homeroom, holding up two fingers to silence the buzzing class. He cleared his throat.  
"I believe someone in the class has something to say. Because of the new students today, one in particular, I'm sure that he'd like to tell you himself." There was a beat. "...Will the impostor please come to the front of the room."  
Impostor? What was this, a spy novel? Ibuki was excited. She looked around the classroom, holding her pointer finger out like a gun and pretending to stare down the scope. Who was this mysterious villain?  
The room was silent for a minute, everyone looking around in confusion. Suddenly, Togami, seated directly in front of Ibuki (she had picked that chair), exhaled. He rose, and strode to the front, giving Mr. Kirigiri a meaningful look as he took the podium. He took a look around the room, observing his shocked classmates.  
"Mr. Kirigiri is correct, this charade seems to have run its course." he said, solemnly. Then he turned around, and fiddled with something, back facing the students. When he faced front again, he was holding something in his hand, although it was too small to see. Then Ibuki noticed his eyes. They were a deep brown. He held up a pair of contacts to the class.  
There was a collective sharp intake of breath from the room.  
"You see, I am not Byakuya Togami." the impostor spoke, voice different this time. Softer, in every sense of the word. "I am, in fact, not an heir, but a Super High School Level Impostor." looking to Kirigiri now, they said: "I assume you...the faculty, rather, have known about this for quite a while now, then."  
"Maybe not quite as long as you might expect, Mr. Impostor. You are rather good at your job. But yes, your plan had a hole, and that hole was the real Byakuya Togami, who is now enrolled in Hope's Peak, starting this year."  
"And yet...you're going to allow me to stay here?"  
"Yes, your grades are sarisfactory and you seem to be...fitting in," Ibuki felt everyone's eyes on her at this point, and couldn't help feeling a rush of pride. "...so who am I to throw you out on your ear? You are SHSL, just a different one than we expected. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go greet the new students. Good luck, Mr. Impostor."  
The Impostor raised an eyebrow. It seemed to Ibuki that they hadn't expected this reaction. "Well...well, I, er, thank you, Mr. Kirigiri, but frankly, I'm not sure what to do next..." Byakuya-chan rarely looked this lost, Ibuki thought. A roar of voices began in the room, everyone starting to talk at once. Ibuki saw looks of confusion were the standard.  
"Quiet, all of you!" came Togami's familiar reprimanding tone. For some reason, Ibuki felt relieved, and she observed the same look on faces across the room. Same old Byakuya-chan...  
"...I suppose I'll take questions, now, if you want," the impostor shuffled a bit and cleared their throat. Hands shot up across the room. Akane Owari spoke first.  
"So, you ain't really rich?" Blunt as ever, good old Akane-chan.  
"No."  
Kuzuryuu spoke without raising his hand.  
"So if you're not, can I call you a fat bastard without getting sued?"  
"If you wish."  
"You're a fat bastard, Togami."  
"Thanks, Kuzuryuu." A few people laughed. For a moment, it was just like old times.  
Saionji raised her hand next, not waiting to be called on to speak: "So, is that a wig?"  
The imposter looked amused. "No, it's my real hair." They reached up and tugged on it to prove their point.  
Saionji grinned. "So, you do kinda look like the real Togami, dontcha, Mr. Porkfeet?"  
"That's beside the point. Any serious questions?"  
Hinata had one, apparently. The impostor called on him.  
"So, you are going to stay, right, To--sorry, Mr. Impostor?"  
The Impostor's face took on a strange expression, eyebrows sloping down for once. "I...I guess I just don't know, Hinata. Being...discovered like this would normally count as a failure for me. I don't know what I'll do."  
The bell rang, suddenly, and the kids rushed to get their stuff and go home. The impostor stood at the front of the room still, then slowly waded back to their seat through the crowd. Everyone seemed scared to talk to their old friend. Ibuki looked worriedly at them, but they didn't meet her gaze. As Hinata shuffled by, he whispered in Ibuki's ear: "You're closest to him, right? Try to talk some sense into him, will you? The rest of us will be waiting outside." Ibuki nodded, making her way back to her desk behind Byakuya-chan's. She'd try her best.

They had sat down, exhaled, and placed his head in his hands. Ibuki was still seated behind him, stock-still. The golden afternoon light filtered through the blinds, carrying a mild breeze. Ibuki spoke. "Psst, Byakuya-chan."  
The Impostor jumped, startled. "Oh, Mioda, ahem." They had been speaking in their 'Togami' voice, probably a force of habit after all this time. They switched back to their natural tone. "Mioda, what is it? And also, how long have you been there?"  
"Second, Ibuki's been here since class ended. First, Hajime-chan told her to talk some sense into you. Zero-th, she believes Byakuya-chan owes her an explanation! Also she wan't going to walk home without you..."  
The Impostor looked at her with a sad smile. "Mioda, you don't need to hang around me anymore. I'm no business genius, I'm a con man. A con man, Mioda."  
"Ooh, like Harry Lime in The Third Man? Have you ever seen that movie, Byakuya-chan? Come to think of it, Byakuya-chan reminds Ibuki of that Orson Welles--"  
"Mioda, be serious, will you! For one minute?? And for heaven's sake, stop calling me that stupid nickname! Can't you see I'm not him?"  
"So...who are you?"  
The Impostor sighed. "I'm nobody, I'm everybody, blah blah blah, etc." They looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, then truth is, I better start from the beginning...The Togami Conglomerate, every generation, holds a competition for all of its many children to see who will become the true heir..."  
"Like the Hunger Games?"  
"WILL YOU STOP IT WITH THE POP CULTURE REFERENCES?? Anyway, no, it's more like a series of tests and simulations, to determine aptitude. And in the last one, something strange happened. An upset, you could say; the youngest kid won. That was Byakuya."  
"So, you found this out through your research?"  
The Impostor looked out the window. A moment passed.  
Ibuki spoke, quieter now. "What...happened to the other kids?"  
"We...they had to find their own way."  
"And so one of them...became...nobody and everybody?" The story was starting to work itself out in Ibuki's mind.  
"That's right. What do you think of me now, Mioda? I'm a failure, see?"  
"One question."  
"...shoot."  
"What's your real name?"  
"You had it right the first time, actually." They mumbled.  
"BYAKUYA-CHAN?" Ibuki put her chin on his shoulder.  
"Come on, Mioda. I'm not him." They brushed her off. "You know that now, you should be walking away, like everyone else. I'm not a good person, Mioda. You don't want to get mixed up with me."  
"Hey! Stop that blasphemy!" Ibuki crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks. "That kind of talk can decrease morale, you know." She grinned. "See, Ibuki can...imposterize too. That was her Byakuya-chan impression."  
The Imposter laughed in spite of themself. "You're incorrigible, Mioda."  
"Anyway, Ibuki has something important to say," She cleared her throat and tapped her chest over-dramatically. "Ibuki has seen the other Byakuya-chan before. She means, er, the heir one. On film, in press conferences and stuff."  
"Wait a minute, did you look me up online? I mean, look him up?"  
"THAT'S BESIDE THE POINT! And she thought that he was just you in the past, right? You did mention you'd changed, Byakuya-chan..."  
"Go on."  
"And now that Ibuki thinks about it, that was part of Byakuya-chan's disguise, right?"  
"Yes," they said, a little surprised. "I'm impressed you saw that, Mioda. My technique of impersonation is about not looking exactly like the person. Because it's easier to believe a person has changed a little than to believe an exact copy."  
"Yeah, yeah, so anyway, he was different than you. But since he's a different person, and he's still around, that means there are two different Byakuya-chan versions. Like different models of a car, or a guitar, or..."  
"Just what are you getting at, Mioda?"  
"Let Ibuki ask you a question." She stood up on her desk, and held her hand like a clipboard. "Do you like being Byakuya-chan? Answer honestly."  
They leaned back in their chair and closed their eyes as if remembering something. "...Yes, I suppose I do. To tell you the truth, I've...enjoyed my time here more than...well, all of you. You, Mioda, and Hinata, and everyone..." They trailed off, and looked away. They wiped their eye with a sleeve. "It's true, I like being Byakuya. Around you."  
Ibuki hopped down from her perch and landed in their lap.  
"Oof-"  
"And there rests Ibuki's case. She thinks...maybe it's not that important who you are. Heck, Ibuki doesn't know who she is half the time. So, if you like being Byakuya-chan, what's stopping you from being him? It is your name too, after all. And since you're different than him, maybe...you're just being yourself?"  
They were taken aback. They had never heard Mioda make so much sense. Maybe she was a genius, in a way. They smiled.  
"Alright, Mioda." They stood. Rather, Togami stood. His familiar, commanding voice was back. "I may be an impostor, but...I'm also Byakuya Togami. And I did come here with a job to do. So, until I find someone better...I'll be appearing as myself."  
Ibuki grinned from ear to ear. She stood, took his hand, and led him out of the classroom. "Let's walk home together, Byakuya-cha--" she opened the door, and...  
There was a loud thump. Ibuki looked down, and saw Hajime-chan laying on the floor, his hand still cupped to his ear from where he had been listening through the door. All around, the rest of their classmates were huddled. Hinata stood and dusted himself off.  
"Ah, nice to see you two, we were just passing through--"  
"What's the meaning of this, Hinata?" Togami roared. He was ticked. "How much did you hear?"  
"I...don't know what you're talking about, Togami." He shrugged in mock obliviousness. "We didn't hear a thing." He winked. "Besides, if you, hypothetically, were to have some sort of secret, it would be safe with us." The rest of the class nodded vigorously.  
"Now, we thought we would go greet the new students downstairs. One, er, in particular. You wanna come, Togami?"  
Togami rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "I suppose it couldn't hurt. Alright, I'll lead."  
Everyone was smiling, even Kuzuryuu. They followed Togami downstairs and out into the courtyard, where Ibuki spotted the other Byakuya-chan chatting with the principal.  
Ibuki disliked him immediately. Although his shaggy blonde hair and glasses were the same, this one was much scrawnier, and dressed in a black suit. He looked to Ibuki like an irritated crow.  
Mr. Kirigiri walked away, waving, and the small crowd of second-years pushed towards the black-suited Togami. Togami in white put out his hand and the other grasped it hesitantly.  
To Ibuki, this meeting of black and white looked epic, like something out of a fairy tale. A battle of good and evil. Ibuki didn't know which was which, but she knew whose side she was on.  
"Ah, Kirigiri told me about you," the heir said, raising his eyebrows and smirking as if sharing an inside joke. "So, tell me, who are you really?"  
"I'm Byakuya Togami." the one in white said. He contorted his features into the same expression as the one in black. He was an expert after all. To Byakuya Togami the heir, the effect was like looking in a mirror. Unnerving. Even more unnerving was the crowd of upperclassmen clustered around and behind Togami the elder. Like they were following him...  
"Hah!" The heir spat. "What are you, the ringleader of this little charade?"  
Byakuya in white leaned in close and smiled. "You don't know what it means to be a leader." he hissed. Byakuya in black sputtered, enraged. He stepped back, and glared wide-eyed at the group. "You...you dirty little...you won't get away with this garbage! There's only one Byakuya Togami!"  
Ibuki looked to Byakuya-chan. He was keeping his cool; in fact, he seemed to be enjoying himself. Ibuki remembered his past. That's right...this was revenge for him.  
"I'm afraid there isn't. You see, you may be the heir, but keep in mind that I was here first." He gave him one more smile and then, turning on his heel, led the group away. Ibuki, taking her Byakuya-chan's arm, caught sight of Kuzuryuu spitting on the other Byakuya-chan's patent leather shoe.  
The heir stood, watching horrified as the second-years retreated. He would never admit it, but one thought stuck in his mind after that encounter; the upperclassmen here were not to be trifled with. Especially their leader; after all, he should know.

**Author's Note:**

> I've read several fics where Twogami's character reveal is angsty and turns the rest of the class against them; so I decided to write something completely different. I think their trust in them would not be so easily broken, especially since their Dangan Island ending had Hinata saying "I'll always think of you as the real Byakuya Togami". I tried to combine two popular theories about their identity as well. I ended up really enjoying writing this. Feedback is appreciated!


End file.
